Master of the Stars

The feeling of novelty was missing when Luo Nan first entered the Simulator layer of the Psychic Wave Network. This was because the sensation was similar to using the immersion equipment of virtual reality. Luo Nan just took this as a virtual reality experience specific for ability users, but he had never expected that his form would look like this in here.

It was hard for Luo Nan not to be embarrassed when he thought about how he talked to He Yueyin in this form just now. No wonder she laughed...

He Yueyin’s rarely seen smile flashed and disappeared like fireworks. Then, she returned to her normal calmness. "Your view toward yourself lacks maturity. If you want to engage in normal movement here, then you first need to establish your own form."

"So I need to create a mold, like character customization in a game?"

"It’s self-cognition."

"Self-portrait?"

The two communicated some concepts in an instant. He Yueyin was about to give a more detailed explanation, but she stopped before the words could leave her mouth. She only kept the mirror there.

"It’s up to you to figure out how to establish your form."

Luo Nan stood in front of the mirror in a daze. He earnestly thought of how to go about changing his form due to how serious He Yueyin was being. However, he couldn’t think of any other ideas no matter how he much pondered.

A change appeared in the mirror the instant the thought stirred in his mind. Lines of a silhouette were drawn on the image within the mirror. The process was no different than his everyday sketches.

Luo Nan wasn’t good at self-portraits; he had mentioned this to Xie Junping before. Luo Nan wasn’t being humble. This was because Luo Nan was never quite able to grasp his own individual characteristics in his drawings. All he could draw was something similar in form. But when compared to most people in this world, his skill in sculpting himself was quite decent.

The blurry and faint body in the mirror soon turned into a simple humanoid image. Then, the image was enriched and fine-tuned. After thirty seconds of shaping, the image became about 70 percent similar to Luo Nan himself. It was certainly possible to make it better with a bit more effort.

"Is this fine?" Luo Nan raised his hand. The sensation was pretty much the same as his physical form as he turned his head and asked.

He Yueyin looked at him for a while and lightly shook her head.

Luo Nan asked in wonder, "What’s wrong?"

"This method is the easy way out."

He Yueyin walked back over until she reached Luo Nan’s side. "In the Simulator layer, our form should be the manifestation of our individual characteristics when it comes to the operational structure over energy and information. According to President Ouyang’s explanations, it could be considered a view into one’s self-logic. For example, I..."

He Yueyin raised her hand as she spoke. Her long, thin fingers spread a bit, indicating for Luo Nan to look. "My current form isn’t what I want. The Internal Energy of the burner, its operation of energy and information, causes light and heat to appear on my foundation. So, it is unavoidable for my form to glow. Anyone can see that I am a Burner with a single glance."

Luo Nan fell in a daze when staring at He Yueyin’s jade-like fingers. Eventually, he understood. "In other words, one’s form in the Simulator layer is also a certain objective reality. At the very least, it is a sort of projection. It can’t just be anything."

Indeed, Luo Nan now understood clearly. But he couldn’t refrain from scratching his head when he saw his form in the mirror. "But I’ve still yet to be an Awakened. Self-logic, and so on... I haven’t established them yet."

This reason Luo Nan found was so good that it stupefied He Yueyin for a moment. He Yueyin then nodded. "Indeed, this needs to be considered as well. Then let us first proceed with the next step and see what happens."

And so, she indicated Luo Nan to follow her and step through the boundary into the Wilderness.

Luo Nan followed with deep curiosity. He reached his hand out to touch the bulletin board within the gusts of sand. The thick and rough sensation was instantly fed back.

"It’s wooden..."

The boundary between the virtual and the real blurred away. Luo Nan turned his head. The so-called entrance had already disappeared. He just saw the boundless rusty red dirt, and in front of the bulletin board he saw the outline of a building appear.

Now he had truly entered the Simulator layer.

Luo Nan didn’t have the energy to be emotionally moved. He Yueyin’s Practical Course didn’t involve him looking at scenery.

For the next twenty minutes, He Yueyin had him familiarize himself with the environment. The main activity point was a small town that was similar with the background of the Ten Days in the Wilderness game.

In that game, this was the supply point for players. It was also the place where missions were issued. In the Psychic Wave Network, this was more like a large saloon.

"People online will engage in communications and inquiries here."

"What do they talk about?"

Luo Nan had applied video game thinking toward this place, but when he heard He Yueyin’s introduction, he suddenly realized that his thinking was childish. The veteran members—every single one of them—were brilliant, outstanding characters in the inner world. Each had ability, each had goals. None of them had the leisure to run in here and play games.

"I’ve only been here once since joining the Society. I haven’t participated in the concrete details. However, I have heard President Ouyang say that most discussions revolve around topics of self-logic, energy structures, the interference between the mental and the material, and other similar fields..."

Luo Nan blinked. "They can also talk about this stuff offline."

"Nothing can compare to this place in terms of convenience. The Psychic Wave Network is erected by thousands upon thousands of ability users. It’s like a supercomputer. President Ouyang and others can utilize the resources within this place and render models that are hard to implement in reality."

All right, the style of the scenery was quite good. The problem was that Luo Nan had never seen such a ramshackle saloon.

He Yueyin led Luo Nan to the town’s central block. It was empty with no one in sight. It was as if the entire town had been looted by a tornado. Most of the buildings had collapsed into ruin. Only a few buildings were basically intact.

"Practically each building is an independent zone. Inside a portion of them are items that have been ported from the game to provide people with amusement. However, most are experimental models, the crystallization of collections of several people’s intelligence."

"What’s the deal with it now?"

"It has to do with the effects from the Logic World,” He Yueyin spoke softly. "A great change occured in the structural rules of the Simulator layer when President Ouyang integrated the results of the Logic World inside. Most experimental models haven’t adapted to the environmental change and have been destroyed."

"Logic World?"

Luo Nan more or less understood the principles of erecting the Logic World. It was a structure of deep interference between the mental and the material planes, and it was really quite unfriendly. However, this method of spatial rifting to construct a new world caused one to truly feel like they were staring up at a high mountain.

"Sister He, so you’re saying that this place is equivalent to another Logic World?"

He Yueyin shook her head. "This isn’t my area of expertise."

Luo Nan twisted his head and looked all around, having not received an answer. Yet he was unable to easily clarify it. He thought for a bit and walked to the side of a ruined building. He lowered his head to size up the rubble and stone.

"Shaped like snowflakes... It’s quite orderly."

They looked like a chaotic mess of ruins when looked at from afar. But when looked at carefully, one would find that there were structural patterns within every piece of debris. Laws and rules could be found within every piece.

It was practically impossible for this to happen in the real world.

"The difference between the natural and the artificial." Luo Nan reached out his hand to grab a piece of rubble. He wanted to research it in earnest for a moment, but his hand only raised up half way before his hand felt light and the stone fell to the ground.

Luo Nan was a bit stunned.

The rubble didn’t slip out from his fingers; it directly cut through the skin, flesh and bones of his hand. It went through without hindrance at all, falling to the ground with a sound.